East Rutherford, NJ — Breeders Crown elimination winner Allegiant, with Scott Zeron in the bike again, won the $600,000 Breeders Crown 3-year-old filly trot at The Meadowlands on Saturday (Oct. 26), crossing the finish in a personal-best and stakes-record-equaling 1:51.1.  Zeron fired his filly off the gate and took the lead easily enough, but R Melina was looking to avenge losing her elimination and overtook Allegiant for the lead in a soft :27.4 first panel. Willys Home Run took safe cover behind the first two with Elista Hanover behind them in fourth. Nothing changed as R Melina guided the field to a :55.4 half, but Elista Hanover took to the outside to chase, giving cover to elim-winner Drawn Impression while the top two rolled towards three-quarters in 1:23.2. Zeron’s filly had tons of trot saved from the catbird-seat journey when he sent her mid-track to use that saved energy for a convincing challenge to win and defeat R Melina by 2-1/4 lengths. Elista Hanover took the third spot with Drawn Impression in fourth and Warrawee Michelle closing from last for fifth. Even though it was a smooth trip, Zeron said, “It shows how tough she really is.” The win by the daughter of Tactical Landing , from the Yankee Glide mare Too Good For You, puts her on the edge of being a millionaire with $933,197 in her wallet lifetime. Bred by Atlantic Trot Inc. and Steve H. Stewart and owned by Ryan W. Smith, Allegiant scored her 10th win in 25 starts over two seasons. Zeron scored his eighth Breeders Crown trophy with his second-straight win driving Allegiant. “I was happy to sit in the second spot,” he said after the race. “She shows me no emotion (when we race).” He also praised trainer Linda Toscano, who won her ninth Breeders Crown trophy and first in this division, for how the filly has been handled. Allegiant matched the stakes record set in 2022 by Jiggy Jog S with the win and paid $6.00 to win.

Steely Knife and Better Is Nice both powered first over and persevered to win in their respective divisions of the $197,000 Captaintreacherous Bluegrass Stakes, for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings, on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 28) at The Red Mile. Steely Knife (Dexter Dunn) built momentum from a first-over push and rolled home a 1:52.2 winner in the first division of the Captaintreacherous Bluegrass Stakes. Dunn slid to the pylons to race fourth to a :28.3 first quarter cut by Cupid Shuffle (Yannick Gingras), who Gingras tried to wrangle back despite coasting to a :56 half. Steely Knife started to gather speed moving for the final turn and angled off the pylons, vaulting forward as Cupid Shuffle raced on fumes by three-quarters in 1:23. Cupid Shuffle promptly folded while Steely Knife powered forward and held firm from late rallying Mccrunch (Andy McCarthy), who sat an antsy pocket and burst through an inside seam to challenge late. Mccrunch had to settle for second, beaten a neck, while Captain Luke (Scott Zeron) — the 3-2 favorite — saved ground throughout and held third. Trained by Ron Burke, Steely Knife has now won six races from 29 career starts and banked $264,097 for owners Burke Racing Stable, Knox Services, Phil Collura and J&T Silva- Purnel & Libby. The Always B Miki colt paid $27.90 to win.

Jiggy Jog S headed to Saturday’s stakes action at Hollywood Dayton Raceway with top billing, and the sport’s highest-ranked stars did not disappoint. In the Dayton Oaks, Dunn methodically guided Jiggy Jog S to the front as Call Me Goo and M-M’s Dream were part of a three-horse battle with Pioneer As for the lead in the opening quarter, which Call Me Goo reached in :27.1 by a nose over M-M’s Dream. The Ake Svanstedt-trained Jiggy Jog S, though, was in front soon thereafter and never looked back, reaching the half in :55.1 and three-quarters in 1:23.3. Call Me Goo finished second and M-M’s Dream was third. Unbeaten in six races this season, Jiggy Jog S has won 24 of 41 career starts and earned $3.1 million. The 5-year-old mare became the 16th trotter in history to exceed $3 million in North American purses with Saturday’s victory. She is ranked No. 2 in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll. Jiggy Jog S is owned by Ake Svanstedt Inc., Steve Stewart, John Lengacher, and Hickory Hollow Stables. The daughter of Walner -Hot Mess Hanover was bred by Vestmarka AB.

Harness racing’s two highest ranked horses in the Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll, No. 1 Twin B Joe Fresh and No. 2 Jiggy Jog S , will be in action Saturday at Hollywood Dayton Raceway and, as usual, Dexter Dunn will have a great seat to watch them go. Jiggy Jog S, who is 5-for-5 this season, has been ranked no lower than No. 6 in the 15 weeks of this year’s poll. She has been No. 2 for three consecutive weeks. She enters the Dayton Oaks off a Sept. 7 win in the million-dollar MGM Yonkers International Trot, where she defeated Periculum by 3-1/2 lengths at the distance of 1-1/4 miles. “She was awesome,” Dunn said. “She couldn’t have done it much easier. I know we got pretty good fractions, but she just felt awesome.” A three-week layoff since the International Trot should not pose a problem for Jiggy Jog S, who is trained by Ake Svanstedt and accustomed to such a schedule. On Aug. 3, she won the John Cashman Memorial in a rainstorm at The Meadowlands in a stakes- and track-record 1:49.2 off a five-week respite. Only two female trotters in history, Manchego and Atlanta, have gone faster. “She’s very athletic,” Dunn said. “It’s not like she needs a lot of racing to become fit. She’s pretty naturally fit, I think. That’s the way they train her.” Jiggy Jog S, the 2023 Dan Patch Award winner for best older female trotter, has hit the board in 35 of 40 career races, winning 23 and earning $2.97 million. The daughter of Walner -Hot Mess Hanover is owned by Ake Svanstedt Inc., Steve Stewart, John Lengacher, and Hickory Hollow Stables. Dunn and Jiggy Jog S will leave from post six in the nine-horse field, which also includes millionaires M-M’s Dream and Refined. Jiggy Jog S won last year’s edition of the Dayton Oaks, a victory that launched her current win streak.

Maryland powered home to take all the spoils in the Mohawk Million, putting an exclamation point on a stellar Saturday stakes night at Woodbine Mohawk Park for driver Dexter Dunn. After taking the inside track, literally, to impressive victories in the $347,000 Elegantimage (with three-year-old trotting filly French Champagne) and $713,000 Canadian Trotting Classic (with three-year-old trotting colt Amazing Catch), Dunn engineered a different trip, but produced the same result, in the $1 million Mohawk Million for two-year-old trotters. Meshuggah (Scott Zeron) blasted off the wings and took the lead heading into the first turn, followed by Lookatmegoamigo (Jody Jamieson), Go Ahead Makemyday (David Miller) and Lasting Dream (Bob McClure), while Maryland sat an unfettered sixth through an opening panel in :27.1. It was status quo on the front end through a half in a tepid :56.2, as Dunn continued to hold a patient hand on the 4-5 choice, positioned seventh at that point. Meshuggah was still on top through three-quarters in 1:24.3, as Lasting Dream looked to ratchet up the pressure. Monalishi (James MacDonald) arrived on the scene in third, while Maryland, improving to fourth, was five lengths off the leader, but full of trot and rolling to the outside. Maryland, whose slot owner for the Million was Hunterton Farm, began to methodically pick off his rivals down the lane, blasting to the front with ease en route to a sharp 3-1/2-length score after a :27.1 final quarter. Lasting Dream was second, Meshuggah third, Onajetplane (Andrew McCarthy) fourth and Emoticon Legacy (Louis-Philippe Roy) fifth. The final time was a stakes, track and Canadian record of 1:52.3. Maryland bested the former track and Canadian record for two-year-old male trotters set by 2017 William Wellwood Memorial winner Alarm Detector by one-fifth of a second. “He was pretty aggressive tonight,” said Dunn when asked about gapping the gate tonight. “He hasn't really been like that before and the horse outside was pretty fired up on the gate too and there was a bit going on, but we had a little bobble there before the gate left, but he luckily kept his gait. We still got away in a pretty decent position, and just around the last turn, I nearly lost him there for a bit, but he got himself up. “I was still confident, especially coming off the last turn, and he was close enough that he's fast enough.” For the son of Chapter Seven-Crucial, who won the $575,000 William Wellwood Stakes on Aug. 24 and the $527,027 Peter Haughton Memorial on Sept. 13, it was the third straight command performance and biggest payday of his career. “He’s probably the smartest colt I've been around,” said trainer Marcus Melander, who also won the 2022 Mohawk Million with Oh Well. “He wants to do his work. Then, you never know how much the other horses have left, but if he has the position to win when they're turning from home, he’ll win.” With Saturday’s win, Maryland is now 4-1-1 from seven starts, to go along with nearly $1.1 million in lifetime earnings. “I think pretty much when he was racing at the Meadowlands early, he just showed so much talent,” said Steve Stewart of Hunterton Farm. “And that last sixteenth [of a mile], he always just seems to accelerate. There was one race early that I think a horse came up on him and it looked like he was going to go right by him, and he just wouldn't let him go, and it seems like he's very versatile. “Marcus has been saying that the one thing that separates him from a lot of horses is he's so intelligent.” Maryland, owned by Courant Inc., PCW Racing, Holly Lane Stud East and Sstewartrthorn Stable, will head home to the Garden State the newly minted Million champion. "We will ship him back home to New Jersey and prepare him for the Breeders Crown, since he won last week and he's already eligible for the finals,” noted Melander. “So, that will be his next race, probably. Maybe, we'll do a qualifier in between, but that's what we're waiting for right now.” Bred by Hanover Shoe Farms, the bay colt, who won his debut at The Meadowlands on June 28, was a $475,000 purchase at the 2023 Lexington Select Yearling Sale. Maryland paid $3.90 for the win. To view Saturday's harness racing results, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park . (With files from Woodbine)

Hunterton Born, Raised & Sold, VIC ZELENSKYY (Greenshoe - Mission Brief ) won the Kentucky Gold Rod Series 3YO Colts & Geldings at The Red Mile. Congratulations to owners S R F Stable, Holly Lane Stud East Ltd and trainer Marcus Melander and driver Dexter Dunn.

Lexington, NY — On Tuesday (Sept. 10), at the Red Mile, Canadian Pacing Derby and 2023 Little Brown Jug winner It’s My Show used a blistering final quarter mile to defeat El Rey in 1:49.2 in the $35,000 third leg of the Kentucky Sire Stakes (KYSS) series for 4-year-old male pacers.  It’s My Show (Scott Zeron) left from post position three and landed in fifth in the field of eight while the speedy El Rey (Andy Miller) assumed command right from the beginning of the mile. The public’s third choice clicked off fractions of :27.2, :55.3 and 1:22.4 while It’s My Show moved into fourth at the three-quarter pole. As the field rounded the final bend, It’s My Show began to uncork his rally in the drive for the finish line and was positioned in third behind pocket sitter Speaking Volumes (Tony Hall). El Rey had the jump on It’s My Show, but the Linda Toscano trainee came storming over the red clay with a final quarter of :25.4 to best El Rey by a half length. Speaking Volumes was third. It’s My Show, a son of Sweet Lou -Put On A Show, competes as a homebred for Richard and Joanne Young. He now sports a resume of 36-12-8-3 with $1.48 million in the bank. He paid $2.72 to win.

On Sunday (September 8) afternoon, Harrah’s Philadelphia hosted the $320,000 Pennsylvania Stallion Series Championships for all eight stakes divisions, separated by age/sex, and gait. Each group of Pennsylvania-sired horses went for $40,000 in their respective Championship. The Bar Hopping – Chelsees A Winner gelding Hey Porter (Tyler Buter) had the biggest win margin of the day, four lengths, in winning for trainer Tony Alagna, and owner Steve Stewart. The Greenshoe – Firm To Stay miss Saints Preserve Us (Tetrick) has known nothing but Stallion Series action to date and thus is perfect after four career races, winning by a half-length over Pink Whiskey (Brady Brown), for trainer Jim Campbell, and Runthetable Stables.

Yonkers, NY — Ari Ferrari J was the winner of Saturday (September 7) afternoon’s $250,000 Bob Miecuna Invitational for older trotters at MGM Yonkers Raceway after he covered the mile and a sixteenth distance in 2:00.4. With his share of the purse, Ari Ferrari J went past the $1 million mark in lifetime earnings. After showing some speed from post two, driver Jason Bartlett wheeled Ari Ferrari J to the outside in the early stages from third and made his way by early leader Cecil Hanover (Ake Svanstedt) past the :29 second opening quarter. Ari Ferrari J never faced a serious threat from there, as he glided through panels of :57.4 and 1:26 on his way to the win by two lengths. Cecil Hanover checked in second over Take All Comers (Jordan Stratton) and favored M-M’s Dream (David Miller) advanced from eighth to fourth. Amigo Volo (Dexter Dunn) collected fifth. “Being off the inside there, the gate kind of takes off on us and at times you can just give them their head a little bit and they’ll try to switch gears and run,” explained Bartlett. “So, I was more worried about just getting him off on the right foot and then just taking the race how it came. Only a couple left, so I was actually in a really good spot going into the first turn. “He won so easy last time out of the hole, and I was very excited when I saw he was in this race today. He had a start over the track and I kind of knew him at the Meadowlands and loved him there and loved him last week. We actually drew a good spot and he didn’t disappoint.” Tony Alagna trains Ari Ferrari J, a 4-year-old son of Walner bred by M Biasuzzi Stable Inc., for owner Ken Jacobs. Ari Ferrari J is an 11-time victor from 39 starts, has earned $1,014,931 and paid $16 to win as a 7-1 offering. The exacta was $156.50 and the trifecta was worth $2,841.

Jiggy Jog , a familiar face to the North American racing scene but representing Sweden, where she was bred, improved from second in last year's MGM Yonkers International Trot to first in this year's $1 million edition on Saturday afternoon, prevailing for driver Dexter Dunn and trainer Ake Svanstedt in 2:25 flat for the mile and a quarter distance. Canadian representative Logan Park, driven by Doug McNair, got away well from post five, but Dunn wanted the front with Jiggy Jog and moved her out of second to take over the lead beyond the 29 3/5 opening quarter. Jiggy Jog was well-rated and didn't face any outside pressure through a sensible tempo of 58 2/5 and 1:27 2/5 while Hail Mary (Orjan Kihlstrom), another Swedish representative, went first-up from fifth on the way to three-quarters, giving cover to the U.S.'s Periculum (Scott Zeron). Hail Mary couldn't really make any progress on the rim towards the 1:55 4/5 mile marker, and that allowed Jiggy Jog to get separation on the others as Periculum went three-wide early on the last turn. There was no catching Jiggy Jog, though, as she kept clear and allowed Dunn to raise his whip in celebration through the stretch. Periculum, coming off a victory in the Maple Leaf Trot a week ago, was a good second, 3 1/2 lengths behind Jiggy Jog, and France's Ideal San Leandro (Bjorn Goop) got third. Logan Park held fourth from United States representative It's Academic (David Miller). "She's an amazing mare. It's always a pleasure to sit behind her. For her to win a race like that just adds to her great career," Dunn said following the race. "She's been in such great form. I talked to Ake and Sarah before the race, and they were confident that she could go on the front today against these ones, but it was always going to be up to seeing what happened early. There was a bit of speed from outside and a little bit from inside, but she left so well herself. Once the option was there to re-move and go to the front, we took that chance. We got pretty good fractions after that. I was sort of waiting for a bit more pressure the middle of the race, but she was strong. "She was a good and clear second last year, but she was only a 4-year-old mare then. It's always a big step up when they finish their 3-year-old year and in their 4-year-old year they've got to race the open horses. She's just got so much stronger and bigger and mentally tougher this year. You'll see she's been raced pretty lightly so far. Ake and Sarah have been taking their time and not racing her too much to make sure she's there at the end of the year for the Breeders Crown. It's a fun ride to be on. It's always fun to sit behind her, and we'll be looking forward to that for the rest of the year." A 5-year-old daughter of Walner bred by Vestmarka AB, Jiggy Jog S is co-owned by Svanstedt in partnership with Steve Stewart, John Lengacher and Hickory Hollow Stables. She has a summary of 23-10-2 from 40 starts, has put away $2,970,391 and paid $3.70 to win as the favorite. She was atop a $16.00 exacta and a $316 trifecta. "Those races are never easy. She has kind of peaked the last couple of days," remarked Sarah Svanstedt. "She was a little bit tired after the Cashman and the Pocono race, too, actually. It's tough when you have those kind of plans you have to follow and you can't really give a week or two more off - it's tricky. I was so satisfied with her in the last turn. She's tremendous. "Maybe the Caesar's Classic or Lexington (are next). We'll have to see how she gets out of this race to start with." While Stewart is known more on the breeding side of the sport through his Hunterton Farms, he said that he hopes Jiggy Jog has plenty of more racing to do before she becomes a broodmare. "I told Cindy (his wife) that I hope three years from now people come to us and say 'will you please take that damn filly and breed her?' I told all of our partners we have enough broodmares. We don't need another one at the moment, as long as she can compete at this level, and she appears to have a lot of fun with it," Stewart stated. "Ake and Sarah, I think, don't own a lot of broodmares, and so I think that their dream is to probably race her for many, many years, and that's our dream, is to continue racing. What an opportunity and I think it's good for the sport."

Two-year-old trotters invaded Grand River Raceway on Friday evening, Sept. 6 for the fourth Gold Series leg of the Ontario Sires Stakes. Marcus Melander's homebred Galen Erso , the leading colt in the Gold Series, kicked off the stakes action with a 1:57.1 victory in a $95,000 division for the local father and son team of trainer Gregg McNair and driver Doug McNair. Returning to action after back-to-back Gold wins in July and a close runner-up finish in the Mid-Season Gold Final a month ago at Woodbine Mohawk Park, Galen Erso swept up from midfield at the :28.1 quarter mark to take command and never looked back. The Green Manalishi S-Wygant Princess colt clocked middle splits of :57.3 and 1:27 en route to the 1-1/4-length victory over early leader Shutter Green (Bob McClure), with Chicago Hall (James MacDonald) holding on for third. While the colt was a dominant winner, Doug McNair noted he wasn't trotting at his best. "I didn't like the way he was trotting, even scoring down," said McNair. "He was still good enough to win and hopefully they get him sharpened up for the Super Final. "I think he is one of the best or the best in the division. He got beat in the mid-season's challenge there. Sylvain [Filion's] horse [winner You Got It Kemp] raced great. He got a better trip than mine; I had to remove mine to the front again and he just got picked off at the wire. I think he's got lots of trot, he's just got to get there." Having hit the board in his first five career starts, Galen Erso has already banked $166,168. He paid $2.90 to win as the 2-5 favourite.